Covers

First response

Today’s post is more of a personal message. I want to thank everyone who sent suggestions of songs for me to cover. Almost a thousand songs! Truthfully, there were many I am not familiar with, so it will serve as a bit of musical education. I am looking into them but wanted to mention two of the songs that struck me. Down so Low, sung by the soulful Tracy Nelson, is from Mother Earth’s 1968 album Living With the Animals. It was once a favorite of mine and I thought of singing it in the seventies but it was out of my range. I had forgotten about it, but my life experience has expanded and my voice is deeper now. Even if I fail, now reminded, I am listening to it again. I am still marveling Tracy Nelson’s incomparable delivery, at twenty-three years old, with her mix of deep felt emotion and sophisticated restraint.

Another suggested song was Pauper’s Dough. I had never heard of it, nor the film it graces. I loved it immediately on first listen. Pauper’s Dough was written by King Creosote, for the soundtrack he created for the transcendent documentary, From Scotland with Love, by Virginia Heath. Here is a brief description:

The film explores universal themes of love, loss, resistance, migration, work and play. Ordinary people, some long since dead, their names and identities largely forgotten, appear shimmering from the depth of the vaults to take a starring role. These silent individuals become composite characters, who emerge to tell us their stories…..

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fromscotlandwithlove

Above is a link to the film. Below is the audio of the song that so captured me. I aim to try it one day, but only if I can do it justice. The lyrics read as a poem to the people, the salt of the earth.

I am very grateful for being exposed to so many new songs, each being a world. It will take awhile to get through them but I will keep you posted as to my progress. In the coming weeks I will be ruminating and trying new ideas. Thank you everyone and take care. Things are slowly opening up and it’s important to stay balanced and patient. It’s going to take awhile to reclaim and rebuild. But so great to be alive.